Hellbore
Enlightened
Hi, I am looking for some Christmas presents for some of my nieces and nephews. I have several teenage nieces and nephews who are very interested in LED flashlights but have never owned a really bright light with a power LED in it. Also, for some reason teenagers love to lurk around at night, so flashlights seem to come in handy for them often.
Most of them own multi-LED flashlights, the kind with an array of 5mm LED's, and they think that these are really cool. Some of them already own several such lights and have a sort of collection of junk lights. This is usually because a well-meaning parent knows they like LED lights, but doesn't know any better and just buys them whatever LED light they see in the store that doesn't cost too much. As a result, many of these lights are very dim, some are even from dollar stores and the LED's are burning out one by one, or the switch stops working, or the light develops a flicker due to contact issues. Most are 3xAAA lights which is annoying because their households usually don't keep AAA batteries on hand.
I feel bad because a while back they all were at a family reunion campout and had their LED lights out and were comparing them and playing with them, and they found out that my EDC light, a Jetbeam C-LE 1xAA (which I do not consider to be especially bright) blew away all their LED lights, not only in output but also color and throw. They aren't so happy with their lights any more now that they know how much better an LED light can be.
I want to help them upgrade to the next level of LED technology by giving them power LED flashlights for Christmas, something with Cree XR-E or SSC P4 emitters in them.
My budget is max $20 per light. After doing some research I am seriously considering 2 particular lights, both from Shiningbeam.com, the Ultrafire C3 Stainless Steel AA for $18.75 and the Romisen RC-G2 Cree Q5 for $19.95.
Which do you guys think a teenager would like best, and which do you think would be most reliable and durable for a non-flashaholic?
I worry about an aluminum light developing contact issues and needing threads cleaned or parts tightened to restore functionality. Would the C3 with its stainless steel body avoid these reliability issues?
On the one hand, I like the C3 because it seems like it might be more idiot-proof, but on the other hand, I think that the RC-G2 will be brighter since it has a Q5 emitter, so it might be more likely to impress them and get them more interested in LED lights.
What do you guys think, which of these lights do you think is the best choice for my $20 budget and given the circumstances?
Also, if you have another suggestion that you think would be better than either of these lights, I would like to hear it! For example, Shiningbeam also has an MTE 1xAA SSC-P4 light with a U-bin emitter, might this be brighter? It is only $13.95 so it's significantly cheaper!
P.S. - The reason I am sticking to AA's for this gift is because these teenagers have very limited budgets, and they are not likely to buy cr123 batteries. AA batteries, on the other hand, are readily available in their families and they already have them all over the place because they are used in their other electronic devices. Also, from talking to them, I find that two of the things they think are so cool about LED lights are the ability to pack a lot of light into a very small package, and the simplicity of being able to run off of one common AA battery, even when that battery is too low to be useful in most flashlights.
P.P.S. - Does the fact that I have a hidden agenda, which is converting them to flashaholism, make me a bad person?
Most of them own multi-LED flashlights, the kind with an array of 5mm LED's, and they think that these are really cool. Some of them already own several such lights and have a sort of collection of junk lights. This is usually because a well-meaning parent knows they like LED lights, but doesn't know any better and just buys them whatever LED light they see in the store that doesn't cost too much. As a result, many of these lights are very dim, some are even from dollar stores and the LED's are burning out one by one, or the switch stops working, or the light develops a flicker due to contact issues. Most are 3xAAA lights which is annoying because their households usually don't keep AAA batteries on hand.
I feel bad because a while back they all were at a family reunion campout and had their LED lights out and were comparing them and playing with them, and they found out that my EDC light, a Jetbeam C-LE 1xAA (which I do not consider to be especially bright) blew away all their LED lights, not only in output but also color and throw. They aren't so happy with their lights any more now that they know how much better an LED light can be.
I want to help them upgrade to the next level of LED technology by giving them power LED flashlights for Christmas, something with Cree XR-E or SSC P4 emitters in them.
My budget is max $20 per light. After doing some research I am seriously considering 2 particular lights, both from Shiningbeam.com, the Ultrafire C3 Stainless Steel AA for $18.75 and the Romisen RC-G2 Cree Q5 for $19.95.
Which do you guys think a teenager would like best, and which do you think would be most reliable and durable for a non-flashaholic?
I worry about an aluminum light developing contact issues and needing threads cleaned or parts tightened to restore functionality. Would the C3 with its stainless steel body avoid these reliability issues?
On the one hand, I like the C3 because it seems like it might be more idiot-proof, but on the other hand, I think that the RC-G2 will be brighter since it has a Q5 emitter, so it might be more likely to impress them and get them more interested in LED lights.
What do you guys think, which of these lights do you think is the best choice for my $20 budget and given the circumstances?
Also, if you have another suggestion that you think would be better than either of these lights, I would like to hear it! For example, Shiningbeam also has an MTE 1xAA SSC-P4 light with a U-bin emitter, might this be brighter? It is only $13.95 so it's significantly cheaper!
P.S. - The reason I am sticking to AA's for this gift is because these teenagers have very limited budgets, and they are not likely to buy cr123 batteries. AA batteries, on the other hand, are readily available in their families and they already have them all over the place because they are used in their other electronic devices. Also, from talking to them, I find that two of the things they think are so cool about LED lights are the ability to pack a lot of light into a very small package, and the simplicity of being able to run off of one common AA battery, even when that battery is too low to be useful in most flashlights.
P.P.S. - Does the fact that I have a hidden agenda, which is converting them to flashaholism, make me a bad person?
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